Cell Phone Policy Update

Greetings, Falcon Family!

As we are working together as a staff to help continue the legacy of strong educational programs here at Hanford High School, we have also been reviewing policies to better support a culture of responsibility and respect.  We are working to bring additional clarity to two policies at this time and wanted to ensure this information was shared with our parent community.

First, in the spring we began working on our attendance policy—particularly with regard to students being late to class.  Excessive tardies served to disrupt the learning environment and more clear guidelines were deemed necessary.  The last few weeks of the school year students were required to report to the office for a tardy pass if they were late to class.  This practice will continue into the 2022-2023 school year.  We are also fine-tuning details regarding consequences for excessive tardies and will communicate this information to students once it is finalized.

Second, we have updated our cell phone policy to bring more clarity to the use of cell phones during class time.  The policy below will be added to our student handbook and updated on our website soon.  Please keep in mind that this is our “default” policy as a school, but that teachers may loosen the restrictions in their individual classrooms at their discretion.  We do understand that cell phones can be utilized as a tool for learning.  It is our hope that this new policy will both create some clear boundaries and also leave room for flexibility for teachers to allow phone usage for appropriate purposes. 

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Cell Phone Policy

It is our intent that students be fully engaged in the HHS program throughout the day. The goal of our cell phone policy is to increase student engagement in the classroom and to create a culture of respect for learning. 

Research shows that students are more focused and have higher test scores and grades when cell phones are kept out of the classroom. 

All classrooms at HHS have a default “no cell phone” policy. Cell phones should be turned off or on silent mode and should not be visible at any time during class unless given explicit permission by the teacher. 

Cell Phone Guidelines: 

1. It is the responsibility of all students to comply with the cell phone policy. Teachers do not need to give cell phone warnings. 

2. When cell phones are seen out in class—for any reason—without explicit permission, the student will be requested to report to the office to turn in the phone. 

3. Failure to follow a directive to turn the phone into the office will result in parent contact and may result in further consequences. 

4. Consequences: 

1st and 2nd Violations: Student may pick up phone at the end of the day. 

3rd and 4th Violations: Parent must pick up phone from the school. Student will be responsible for contacting parent to let them know. 

5th Violation: A parent meeting will be scheduled with an administrator.

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We are thrilled to see our Falcon students back in the building this coming week and look forward to an amazing year ahead!

Respectfully,

Mike Johnson

Principal